Ashes Denote What Fire Was
by Spoopysis
Summary: In a timeline where Lea survives the fall of Hollow Bastion, he ends up in the care of King Mickey. When the worlds are threatened years later, Lea is forced to accompany a budding keyblade wielder on his journey to seal the Door to Darkness and to face the darkness that plagues his own heart.
1. Chapter 1

Sora rounded another corner of the strange dark town he found himself in. The weird shadow creatures seemed a lot fewer around here, maybe there were more people he could ask about Riku and Kairi around here. Once he found them everything could go back to normal. He repeated this to himself everytime he swung the giant key that came to him when he called.

Riku would've know what to do. Why did he have to go and disappear like that? They should've went to Kairi together. There were so many monsters, what if they were hurt somewhere?

"Watch out, kid!" A pillar of fire cut through the air near his head, interrupting his thoughts.

He spun around just in time to see a ghostly pink heart float into the air. Turning back to the source of the fire, he saw a tall man with bright red hair step out of the shadows. The man seemed rather irritated at the sight of him, dangling the strange sword he carried over his shoulder by the hand guard. "Jeez, you can't just go running into danger like that. Do you even know what the heartless would do to you?"

"Heartless? Is that what those things were?"

The man stammered over his words for a moment, pinching the bridge of his nose to collect himself. "... Listen, kid. You're better off staying closer to everyone else. It's dangerous out here. Get it memorized, alright?"

Sora frowned, "Well that just means I can't leave! I'm looking for my friends, Riku and Kairi. We got separated when those things attacked our world."

His eyes widened in surprise before softening in understanding. For a moment he seemed almost remorseful. The man turned his head to avoid Sora's intense glare. "I don't know what to tell ya kid… not everyone who's world is consumed ends up here."

Out of the corner of his eye, Sora noticed a pool of shadow forming behind the man. He looked around and noticed more forming all around them. "You're better off waiting closer to the first district, that's normally where people show up."

"Look out!" The key from earlier reformed in his hands as he readied himself for a fight.

A heartless lunged at the man, who didn't even turn to look as he snapped his fingers. Fire consumed the heartless leaving behind a ghostly pink heart. The man did seem to notice the key in his hands. His whole demeanor shifted, suddenly very careful. "Stay behind me kid. I'll explain everything once we're inside."

"I'm not a kid, My name's Sora." He stuck out his tongue at the man. One of the heartless charged at him and received a key to the face for its effort.

The man chuckled. "Well, Sora, the name's Lea, Got it memorized? I look forward to working with you." He summoned a blade that looked like it was made of solid flame. A few heartless seemed to cower away, while others seemed invigorated at the sight. The creatures attacked, claws slashing the empty air where Lea had just been. Fire trailed after his attacks, magic warming the air where he was.

Sora struggled against the heartless, they seemed suddenly much stronger than they had been earlier. Every attack Sora used against them didn't seem to faze them in the slightest. Lea stayed close to Sora, seemingly very defensive. The man's fire weaved through the air with expert precision, not even brushing Sora as it burned through the heartless.

After a while, the heartless cleared and Sora felt his exhaustion catch up with him all at once. He swayed on his feet. "What… where… are they all coming from?"

"The heartless consume the hearts of others and destroy worlds. Their name is a little on the nose if you ask me?" Lea tapped his nose for emphasis. "But enough about that. You said you were looking for your friends, right? Well, waiting around won't help much, will it? Tell you what, I need that key of yours for something very important, I can help you look for your friends if you help me with my mission."

"Really!?!" Sora's exhaustion was temporarily forgotten.

Lea nodded. "It's pretty dangerous though, are you sure you can handle it?"

"Yeah! They'd do the same for me! I can't just abandon them with these things running around." He spun around. "What are we waiting for? Let's go!" He exhaustion returned full force, causing him to stumble.

Lea caught him before he hit the ground. "Easy there… you're not going to save anyone like this. Take it easy!"

"I'm… fine." he yawned, eyes heavy. "Can't waste any time."

He collapsed, snoring softly with his face against the ground.

Lea carried the teen through the doors to the hotel handing him off to the royal guard. "Take care of this for me, I have something I need to make sure of."

"Gawrsh, you found him already?" Goofy held the child very carefully, not bothered at all by the abruptness of the action.

He waved his words off. "He made himself obvious, just make sure he doesn't get into any trouble."

"Can do!" the royal guard saluted him as he left.

Lea wandered through the city streets, destroying heartless as he went. He couldn't help the bitter taste in his mouth at the sight of them. Even knowing they had once been people couldn't wash away his hatred for them. Ten years of training had made him powerful enough that most of the heartless fled from him. There were still quite a few whose hunger drove them to attack anyway. He repaid them by releasing them from the darkness.

Using the other's keyblade felt… odd. The weight was strange and the squared off corners of the guard knocked into his wrist when he swung it. Definitely a two handed weapon. With a flourish, he cut down another heartless and sounded the bell.

He found the world's keyhole, Flame Liberator calling out in his heart to seal it. But he pushed it down. Raising the unfamiliar Kingdom Key, he tried to close the door through it. The key resisted and pushed back against his heart.

Frowning, he pressed his power harder against the key's influence. The key refused to yield to his command. Eventually the key grew tired of polite resistance and exploded with power, shoving him backwards away from the keyhole.

"Alright, I can take a hint." He summoned Flame liberator and sealed the keyhole himself. "You can't work with me on this for just a little? You're useless if that kid gets himself killed in that place."

The Kingdom Key, predictably didn't respond.

"I feel like you know something about this kid that I don't… He felt familiar though. Can't really place where from though." Lea looked up at the sky. Stars twinkled above serene and untouched. He knew where he had to go, he just wasn't certain he was ready to go back just yet. "Isa… I can't shake the feeling that he's the key to bringing you home… and maybe Ven too."

The key felt warm in his hand, as if it was agreeing with him. He dismissed the blade. Lea felt a warm presence linger around his heart before the key returned to its chosen.

He dangled his own keyblade by the guard over his shoulder. "... guess it's time to pay a visit home."

He turned to return to the hotel, heartless dispersing now that the keyhole was sealed. It felt odd to have his keyblade out while there was nothing to fight but he couldn't shake the feeling that he was being followed. Once inside the hotel he found Goofy and Donald sitting with the boy- Sora.

"There you are!" Donald squawked. "We thought you tried to find the door on your own."

"What? Now why would I go and do something like that? It's not like the door will take any old key and the one it will take is pretty attached to Sora." He crossed his arms. "It'd be way faster though."

Sora stirred in his sleep, mumbling under his breath. Lea walked up to his bedside and knelt. "Rise and shine, kiddo. We've got a lot of ground to cover."

"Wha- Riku?"

"Riku? The name's Lea, Got it memorized?"

Sora blinked in confusion before recalling their earlier meeting. Recognition was soon replaced with disappointment as he remembered the situation. He sat up slowly, hardly acknowledging Donald and Goofy. "... oh."

"You're looking pretty torn up." Lea felt a pang of sympathy for the kid. He'd had to go through the same thing when his own world fell to darkness. It was… lonely. "Can't say I blame you. But there's still hope for your friends…"

"Really?" A bit of hope slipped into his voice.

"Strong hearts like yours are drawn to each other, meaning they'll probably be able to find you as long as they're still whole." Lea placed a hand over his own heart, reaching for his own weak connection with Isa. Only frigid darkness replied to his call, unintentionally bringing a wistful expression to his face. "We have a long journey ahead of us, we're bound to run into them eventually." For better or for worse.

He perked up a bit at that. "You said you needed my help. What do you need me to do?"

Lea pulled up a chair and propped his legs up on the bed. "Your keyblade- that is the thing you summon to fight off heartless- is one of a unique pair. It chose you to wield it and use it to shut the Door to Darkness. Someone is attempting to pry it open and if they succeed it will unleash more heartless into the worlds than can possibly be defeated. I also have a keyblade but mine doesn't have the ability to close this door."

Sora sat and processed this. It seemed like most of it went over his head. But the gravity of the situation was clear enough. Not that it mattered, Lea would have time to explain things as they traveled. "So, if the heartless get through the door, they'll destroy even more worlds right?"

"Hit the nail on the head there, Chief."

"Sounds bad." A new voice chimed in.

Everyone jolted at the intrusion, Lea fell out of his seat from shock. A young woman sat next to Sora on the hotel bed, very intently listening to the conversation. "Don't mind me, I'm just bringing Sora some supplies we put together for his journey." She reached over and pinched the young boys face. Sora seemed befuddled but accepted the show of affection. "Leon didn't want to bother you since he thought Lea'd be able to explain better what's going on. Didya tell 'im bout the king yet? Hey kid, have you ever seen a Gummiship before? Lemme see your keyblade! I've never seen one before."

Lea sighed, only half listening to what the girl was saying. A vague sense of dread washed over him momentarily as the heartless trapped in this sealed world revolted against their imprisonment. Flame Liberator called out to him in warning. He snapped to attention as a few soldier heartless appeared nearby. "Watch out!"

Sora jumped to his feet, effortlessly calling forth his keyblade. It was impressive how easily it came when the boy called for it. Lea had struggled for months to form a proper bond with his keyblade. Sora was a natural.

The older wielder only hoped that his natural talent would be enough to keep him alive against whatever- or whoever- they would encounter.


	2. Chapter 2

They charged through the town, slaying heartless. The younger wielder struggled to keep up against some of the stronger heartless that got past Lea, Donald and Goofy- but he refused to show his exhaustion. Sora frowned as he was once again knocked down by a large heartless only to be saved by Lea's flaming weapon crashing into it and bouncing it away. As the wave of embittered heartless cleared, Lea used some of his magic to replenish the teen. Sora in turn seemed amazed by the display.

"Your magic is so cool!" Childlike innocence shined in the teens eyes, as though he'd never seen a cure spell in his life.

Lea rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "It's nothing really. Donald taught me everything I know."

"Really?" His attention shifted full force to the duck in question. "Teach me!"

Donald seemed to consider it. "Hmm… I'll teach you something easy. If you can master that then maybe I'll teach you something else."

Lea leaned down to whisper to Sora. "That's Donald for, 'You'll never figure it out and I'm not teaching you jack.'"

The man laughed as the duck waved his staff angrily at him. "You woulda figured it out if you just practiced! You can't rely on Firaga for everything!"

"Why not? It works just fine."

Donald tapped his foot in agitation. He pulled raised his staff. "THUNDER!"

Lea jumped backwards out of range of the blast, still laughing at the mage. Donald began to chase the keyblade wielder, casting spells at him only to miss repeatedly. It seemed as though Lea was too fast for him.

Sora looked to Goofy. "Do you know any magic?"

His ears flopped as he shook his head. "Nope, I'm just a royal guard. But from what I've seen, Donald just points his staff and shouts a spell word. Maybe try using your keyblade?"

"Ok… umm… thunder?" Sora waved his keyblade. A surge of power left him, only to manifest as a few weak sparks. His face twisted in irritation. "Thunder!" A sharp crack echoed through the streets as a few street lights exploded from the sudden surge of power. Pride rose in his chest. "I did it!"

Lea and Donald halted their argument. While Donald was frozen in shock, Lea beamed with delight. "Well, what d'ya know? He's a natural."

Sora swiped at his nose. "Riku's gonna be so impressed! Kairi too!" He beamed thinking about the look on their faces when he showed them his new skill. Riku could be the best fighter but he would be the better magic user.

While he was absorbed in his own excitement, he failed to notice Lea's expression fall. The older wielder turned away and rubbed his neck. "Yeah, I'm.. sure they will. C'mon let's get to the ship. We have a long trip ahead of us."

His daydreaming was interrupted as he remembered their agreement. "Huh? Oh, right!" He raced after Lea. "hey, how come you don't use any magic words? Does that mean you're stronger than Donald?"

"I use spell words, I just have an affinity for fire magic. Which means I don't need to focus as much to cast it. Donald is much stronger than me, but he doesn't rely on his affinity."

"I'm stronger because I don't rely on it!" Donald insisted. "You'd be stronger too if you weren't so lazy."

"Whatever."

Sora pestered Lea with questions all the way to the ship. He answered them as patiently as he could. Once on the ship, Sora became distracted by the technology onboard and went silent. He poked and prodded at the various controls. Lea brought up the ships sensors. Hollow Bastion was too far to make in a single trip, but there were various worlds on the path there. Maybe they could stop on them to train Sora? It could also help calm Donald and Goofy if he pretended to be searching for the king?

Lea ran a hand through his hair. He hated keeping secrets. It was a mess.

Just as he was about to select their destination, Sora poked his head around the side of the captains chair. "So… where are we going?"

"We're going to a world called Hollow Bastion. That's where the door is. But the ship isn't equipped to handle that trip all at once. We'll need to make our way through worlds until we find one we can warp to directly. So we're starting here," he pointed at the nearest world, "and making our way here." He moved the map to show the faint outline of his Homeworld. "Got it memorized?"

"Got it."

Lea couldn't hold back a smile. Sora was a far cry from the echoing silence of the castle. It was… nice. Even as they battled through the stars towards their destination, Sora chattered with Jiminy or Donald or anyone who wasn't busy.

When they departed the ship, the group found themselves tumbling down a long tunnel. Their landing was surprisingly graceful considering the height of their fall. Lea brushed himself off and opened his mouth to explain the world order to Sora but was interrupted by the sound of scampering feet. A white rabbit ran by, rushing a greeting and farewell too quickly to be understood.

Sora tilted his head in confusion. "What's that about? Do you think he needs help?"

"Best not to get involved. We have to maintain the world order. Which means we can't go around messing with other people's business unless its Life or Death, got it memorized?" Sora pouted at that, staring at the path the rabbit had just run down. "We need to find this world's keyhole and seal it to prevent anymore heartless from coming through, after that we can see what the issue is, if that makes you feel better."

"Ok."

They followed the twisted hall to a door. Behind that door was two more doors, each smaller than The one before it. Sora, Donald, and Goofy walked in with no issue but Lea sighed as he ducked low to follow them in. In the room behind the smallest door, oddly shaped furniture looked to be painted on the walls. It looked as though they'd reached a dead end.

"Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!" Lea looked down to see the same white rabbit from before scurry toward a very small door- now much smaller than before. The impossibly small door shut after him.

"How'd he get so small?" Sora leaned down to get a closer look.

"No, you're simply too big!"

Lea jumped back in surprise, reflexively summoning his keyblade. The doorknob yawned widely, vaguely irritated by the presence of so many people. "Must you be so loud? You woke me up." It whined.

Goofy smiled politely. "Good morning."

"Good Night." the doorknob snapped back. It yawned and closed its eyes. "I need a bit more sleep."

"Wait!" Sora scooted closer. "What do we have to do to get smaller?"

"Why don't you try the bottle over there?" With a puff of smoke a table popped out of the floor, along with two bottles and a single small chair.

Lea stopped Sora from reaching for the bottles. "You can't just drink stuff that pops out of the ground."

"How else are we gonna get inside?"

Lea thought about it for a moment. "That's a good question." He uncorked one of the bottles. "I'll go first, If you or Donald get any smaller I might end up stepping on you." He laughed and took a sip as Donald yelled at him. With a puff of magic, lea found himself looking up at the others. "Huh, it works."

"Wow, that's so cool! You're like an action figure!" Sora downed the potion next, transforming and holding onto the edge of the table for support. Lea helped him down from the ground and the pair were immediately surrounded by Heartless.

Sora took the lead by casting Thunder on them. The Shadows were destroyed almost instantly but the floating Red nocturnes were merely stunned by the blast. A swipe of Flame Liberator cleared the remaining heartless. "Great job, Sora. Try not to tire yourself out though. Magic takes a lot out of you when you start out."

"Really? I feel fine." Sora dispelled his keyblade and crossed his arms behind his head, clearly pleased at his quick mastery over the thunder spell.

"Oh, is that so? Alright, why don't you try 'fire' next? You'll know you've mastered it when you can do this." He cast Fire, holding the orb of flames in orbit until the magic dispersed on it own. He limited himself to a single fire, not wanting to pressure the kid into exhausting himself outright. Just one would keep him busy for a while.

Sora summoned his keyblade and concentrated. "Fire!"

The end of his keyblade lit up with magic, sending a fireball sailing across the room. It collided with a Large Body, causing very little damage but confusing the creature.

"Not the way I'd cast that but alright." Lea gave Sora a thumbs up. "Keep practicing."

Once Donald and Goofy joined them, they fought through the heartless to the living doorknob only to find him sound asleep. Sora insisted they look for another way in before trying to wake him and Goofy agreed wholeheartedly. After a bit of searching, Lea realized that there was an entrance right next to the door that was partially obscured by a bed. He quietly cast Aeroga to push the bed into the wall before calling the others over.

Despite the time it took to search the room, the white rabbit was only just arriving to whatever event they'd just stumbled into. Strange card men stood guard as an angry looking woman in red glared down at a confused girl in blue. The rabbit bolted up a flight of stairs and sounded a trumpet with what little breath he had left. "Court is now in session!" He announced, shrill and out of breath.

The young girl gasped in surprise. "I'm on trial? But why?"

Her interruption gave the rabbit a chance to catch his breath but his voice was still shrill when he spoke again. "Her Majesty, the Queen of Hearts, presiding."

"This girl is the culprit." The Queen wasted no time in explaining. "There's no doubt about it. And the reason is… Because I say so, that's why!"

"Yeash, I'm glad the queen isn't anything like this lady." Lea murmured.

"That is so unfair!" the girl stomped her foot.

"Well, have you anything to say in your defense?"

"Of course, I've done absolutely nothing wrong! You may be Queen, but I'm afraid that doesn't give you the right to be so… so mean!" The white rabbit covered his mouth with his paw in surprise.

"SILENCE! You dare defy me?"

It was at this point Lea realized that he was unsure of who he wanted to root for. The Queen was obviously spoiled beyond reason, but there had to be a reason she was pointing out the girl, right? Sora, on the other hand, had already picked a side. He poked Lea in the side to get his attention. "We should help her out."

Donald shifted awkwardly at the suggestion. "Yeah, but…"

"We're outsiders, we can't just go around muddling." Goofy finished.

"It's important we maintain the world order, remember?" Lea tapped the side of his head. "This looks pretty personal. It could be a huge mess if we get involved."

"The Court finds the defendant… Guilty as charged." The Queen sneered down at the girl, gesturing with her scepter. She eased back into her throne, content with the girls silence. "For the Crimes of Assault and Attempted Theft of my Heart…" Sora and Lea perked up at that. Perhaps this was something they needed to interfere with. "Off with her head!"

The Card Guards raised their weapons as Sora charged forward to interrupt. "Hold it right there!"

"Who are you? How dare you interfere with my court?"

"Excuse me," Sora started, respectful despite the situation. "But we know who the real culprit is!"

"Yeah. It's the Heartl-" Lea clamped a hand over Goofy's mouth.

Sora flushed and hurried on with his defense. "Anyway, she's not the one you're looking for."

The Queen leaned her head on her fist. "That's nonsense. Do you have any proof?"

Within a blink of an eye, the girl was shoved into a cage, The queen postponing her execution for them to gather proof. A chat with the girl revealed her name to be Alice, who seemed just as confused by the situation as them. She'd fallen asleep and through a series of misadventures, had found herself in the queens garden where she had been arrested and put on trial.

They set out to find evidence. A confusing and whimsical cat creature gave them some useless 'clues' before disappearing. There was a box full of footprints, some stray antenna, a lingering stench, and a few claw marks.

"Congratulations you found them all." The Cheshire Cat reappeared out of thin air, perched on Sora's shoulders. The abruptness of his appearance nearly sent Lea tumbling to the ground. "Such perseverance deserves an award!" It whispered something to Sora before bidding them farewell and vanishing again.

"What's that all about?"

"I dunno, but I think we have enough evidence now. Let's head back."

The Queen was not happy with the evidence. Even when a faint illusion of a Soldier Heartless appeared upon the opening of their evidence, she demanded her guards seize them. The battle was almost embarrassing. Lea lit the tower on fire as Sora knocked over the Cards who tried to put it out. By the time Alice's cage hit the ground, most of the Cards were laying on the ground mildly singed or completely knocked out.

Sora rushed to the cage to release the girl, but she'd disappeared.

"You Fools!" The Queen bellowed. "Find the one who's behind this! I don't care how!" The Guards scrambled to follow her demand.

"We should find her first! They might try to cut off her head again otherwise." Despite his training Lea agreed with Sora's suggestion. World Order or no, it wasn't right to let Alice suffer the punishment for the crimes of the Heartless. They rushed into the forest, where they met again with the Cat. "Have you seen Alice?" Sora asked.

"Alice? No. Shadows? Yes!" The cat replied.

"Where did they go?" asked Goofy.

"This way, that way. Does it matter? Left, Right, Up, Down! All mixed up thanks to the shadows. Step deeper into the forest to the deserted garden. You must find shadows in the upsidedown room." The cat vanished again, leaving Lea with a sense of unease.

They found the aforementioned garden, a painting of two terrified people being the only resident. The didn't linger long, opting to rush into the next room instead of investigating. In the next room, they encountered the Cat yet again. His appearance was starting to wear on Lea. He hated the sense that the creature knew something he didn't.

"They're hiding somewhere, and the Mome Raths outgrabe. Want to find the Shadows? Try turning on the light." It disappeared with a snide grin.

"He's totally messing with us."

"Definitely." Donald replied.

"But what if he actually knows something?" Goofy said, Sora nodding in agreement.

Lea and Donald groaned. They decided to follow the cat's directions. Once they lit two torches in the center of the room, the cat reappeared to tell them that they had to return to the bizarre room they'd first been in. Goofy had to restrain Lea from strangling the cat.

After running through the forest and fighting even more heartless, they found themselves again in the room they'd started in, the doorknob still fast asleep.

"That guy could sleep through the end of the world…"

"Look!"

A massive heartless fell from the ceiling, crushing the table under its weight. Though, considering their current size, it was probably only slightly larger than the average Shadow. The table, popped back into the ground along with the size changing potions.

"Sora, watch out!" Lea cast reflect around him just as the Heartless brought down a club near them. He was knocked back by the force of the blow but managed to stay upright. This was far from the strongest Heartless he'd fought, but it still caught him off guard.

Sora cast a blizzard spell, bringing the beast to its knees. Had Donald taught him that? The boy swung his keyblade at the core of the Heartless' body. It recovered and attempted to retaliated with another swing of its club, seemingly forgetting Lea. That was its first mistake.

With a single powerful jump he leveled his keyblade at the heartless' back. He concentrated his natural magic through the end, sending a ball of flame careening towards the beast. The Heartless was stunned again, leaving it vulnerable to Sora yet again. It could barely land a single hit on them. Between the two, the heartless was defeated quickly, evaporating into shadows and releasing a single heart.

"Sora!" Lea helped Sora to his feet and ruffled his hair. "You did great! You're not hurt anywhere are you?"

"I'm fine." He beamed. "You copied my spell!"

Lea blinked. "Huh, I guess I did." In the heat of the moment, he hadn't a chance to focus on a blizzard spell. His own magic had responded without his knowledge.

A yawn interrupted them. "What a racket! How's a doorknob to get any sleep?"

The doorknob yawned widely, a faint pull calling out to his keyblade. Inside his mouth the world's keyhole had taken form. "Sora…"

As if it had a mind of its own, the Kingdom Key in Sora's hand jerked towards the keyhole on it's own. Sora seemed surprised, struggling to keep his grip on the weapon. Light filled their vision as the keyblade's magic took over. A satisfying click sounded as the world was sealed off from the darkness.

"What was that?"

"You just sealed this world's keyhole. Which means the Heartless can't get to it. Congratulations!" Lea didn't have the heart to explain that it meant they had to leave. He also wanted to make sure Alice was safe first. It wouldn't hurt to bend the rules just this once.

As if to mess with him specifically, that damned cat showed up to tell them that she wasn't in that world anymore.


	3. Chapter 3

Sora woke up in the Gummiship. He sighed as everything that had happened flooded back. It still didn't feel real. Wonderland certainly hadn't helped the dreamlike feel of the last few days in the slightest. He realized that someone had draped a blanket over him while he slept and pulled the fabric closer.

"Hey, wake up." He felt a gentle nudge on his shoulder, "We're at the next world."

Sora turned his body to face Goofy, earning a cheerful 'Good Morning' and a polite smile. He offered one in return. "Mornin'." He faked a yawn. "Wow, we're here already? That was fast."

"Yeah! Lea's pretty good at taking out those heartless ships." Goofy said. He seemed proud of the other man.

They met up with Lea and Donald before they were dropped down onto the new world. Sora didn't quite understand how it all worked, but he decided the answer would be too complicated for him to wrap his head around so he decided it was just another magic spell. When they landed, Sora took a look around.

The area was some sort of courtyard, tall pillars surrounding them on each side with the exception of the stone building before them. Dust was kicked up with each step they took, the loose brown soil was completely devoid of life. There were massive scoreboards hung against the building.

However, Sora couldn't spot a single heartless much less something resembling a keyhole.

"What's this world about?" Sora muttered.

Lea also seemed intrigued. "Hmmm… why don't we have a look around and find out?"

Entering the building introduced them to a short man-goat who seemed very distracted by a poster. "Um… Excuse me?"

"Great Timing." The man didn't bother looking away from his work. "Give me a hand, will ya? Move that pedestal over there for me. I gotta get this place spruced up for the Games."

Sora shared a look with Lea before attempting to comply. He leaned his entire body into pushing the massive stone pedestal only for his feet to slip on the dirt floor. Lea snickered and tried to lend a hand. The pair pushed with all their might only to kick up dust. Sora marched back over to the man.

"It's way too heavy!"

The man jumped in surprise. "What!?! Too heavy? Since when have you been a little-" He turned and looked up at a very irritated Lea. "Oh. Wrong Guy. Are you here to sign up for the Games? You're in the wrong place. Registration's that'a way."

"Games, huh?" Lea held his chin for a moment, considering the situation. "Never heard of them."

"What! Heroes come from all across the worlds to compete against ferocious monsters right here in the World Famous Colosseum. And you say you've never heard of it."

"Hmm," Lea smiled. "Sora, you should give it a try."

The man laughed. "That kid'll get torn to pieces out there. Heroes only."

Sora frowned. "I am too a Hero! I've fought a bunch of monsters."

"Is that so? Well 'hero', let's see what you can do." He led them to the arena where dozens of barrels were stacked in an odd pattern. He then brought out an hourglass. "Smash all the barrels before all the sand reaches the bottom, then maybe I'll consider letting you join."

As soon as the hourglass was flipped, he charged forward to the barrels. It was like he was back on the island and Kairi had just proposed a challenge. All that mattered to him was winning in that moment, strategy snapped into place milliseconds before it was executed. Once the last barrel shattered against the ground, he looked to Lea and the man expectantly.

"Alright, Sora! Fight, fight, fight!" Lea applauded.

The Man stroked his goatee, a pensive look on his face. "Not bad… for a beginner. Why don't we try something a little more complicated? If you can handle it."

Another Challenge. Sora waited for the next trail to be set up. He could barely contain his excitement. On the Island, competition was spur of the moment. He'd never had to wait for one to begin before rushing into it. Now the wait was another challenge, one that fed into the excitement of the next.

Once the final barrel was in place, Sora got into position with his keyblade at the ready. This trial was a little trickier than the first. The barrels were more spaced out and there were obstacles between them. When he began, he attempted to knock barrels into each other as often as possible. Again he managed to clear the barrels before the hourglass ran out but with much less time remaining than before. A flash of irritation rose up in him at that, part of him wanting to try again- faster this time. But he squashed it down with a smile.

The man walked up to him with a grin. "You know, you ain't bad kid. I talked it over with your teacher. He really wants you in the Games so I agreed to let you go up against some small fry."

"Huh?" he glanced around, realizing Lea had disappeared. "Where'd he go?"

"Said he wanted to take a look around town. Now, do you want some extra training or what?"

Sora perked up at the offer, Lea's disappearance vanishing from his mind. "Yeah! Could I do that last trial again? I think- no. I know I can do better this time."

Lea wandered the busy streets of Thebes, surprised at the lack of heartless. He'd felt hundreds of them when they landed, but the town looked vibrant and alive. Merchants called out from street stalls or the doors of their shops. Children played and mothers gossiped. Not a single Shadow crossed his path. He noticed a lot of people wearing merchandise of a guy called 'Hercules' and wondered if they were the one keeping the heartless at bay. Any strong enough light would make it hard for heartless to get a foothold.

If that were the case, there'd be no reason to search for this world's keyhole.

He started to head back to the colosseum, hoping that Sora would at least have gotten some practice in while he was gone. At least that way this world wasn't a complete waste of time.

The arena was packed. People were chanting for the arrival of the 'Hercules' person they were all so enamored with. Phil took center stage. "Alright, Alright, I know you're all excited to see the big man himself, but we've got a great line up today. In this corner, we have an up and coming rookie trained by yours truly- Sora from Destiny Islands!" A cheer rose up from the crowd as the teen waved excitedly in response. "And in this corner we have… uh… These guys?"

A small group of heartless materialized as they were introduced. An equally excited but mildly confused cheer sounded over the crowd. One of the Heartless broke formation and ran towards the crowd, only to run into an invisible barrier. "Hey, watch it punk! Attacking an audience member is grounds for immediate disqualification." The soldier heartless seemed suitably shamed for its actions and shuffled back into formation.

At the sight of the Heartless, Lea had jumped to his feet. It earned some complaints from the people behind them but they were the last thing on his mind. The heartless in the arena were zeroed in on Sora, barely sparing a glance at Donald or Goofy. The keyblade. They're after his keyblade.

"Hey, Sit down, dude! You're blocking the view." Someone reached up and grabbed his shoulder. Without thinking, Lea slapped their hand away.

"Watch where you put your hands before you lose 'em." He snarled. The man plopped back down.

"Hey, Lea! What are you doing up there in the nosebleeds, come down here." Phil waved him down. He weaved his way through the crowd and was greeted with a friendly nudge. "You were right, none of these guys know what hit em. HEY, KID WATCH YOUR FEET. I'M NOT KISSING YOUR BOO-BOOS IF YOU FACEPLANT."

Sora responded by blowing a raspberry at him and waving at Lea excitedly.

Lea smiled, anxiety melting away. It was a competition, Sora wasn't in any real danger. If he was, he could jump in at any time. "I told you, he has talent."

"Be careful though, Competitive types like him always end up finding trouble." Phil stroked his beard, lost in thought.

Sora dispatched the final heartless and rushed over to speak with them. "How was that?"

Lea opened his mouth to praise Sora's tenacity but was quickly interrupted by Phil's criticism. "Quit slouching out there, you're giving me back problems. And what's with all this jumping around? You gotta stay low, make yourself less of a target. Hold on, I gotta announce this next fight."

Phil trotted off, leaving Sora mildly confused. "Wait. I have to stand up straight and stay low?"

"You don't have to get low, you fight two-handed it'll be more of a hindrance than anything. It's just a way to get in cheap shots. You're going to want to overpower your opponents by hitting them hard and fast. Catch them off guard." Lea offered.

Sora pondered his advice for a moment before seeming to come to a realization. "I think I get it."

The other competitor crushed the heartless they were fighting, side-eyeing the keyblade wielders as he left the arena. "He looks tough, are you sure you want to fight him?"

"I want to win."

"Whoa there, Easy. Just saying, you should be careful out there." Lea couldn't help the spark of amusement at the earnest expression on Sora's face.

He nodded. "I will be, and I'll win. And then Riku is going to be so jealous that I won the games."

The amusement faded at the mention of Sora's missing friend. Lea avoided his eyes. He couldn't tell him… it would only distract him from their mission. "Yeah, maybe we'll come back here once we find him. That way you can compete together."

Sora lit up. "Really?"

"Yeah." Lea gave a weak smile.

And with that Sora ran off to fight another wave of heartless, and another, and another. Between matches, Lea would cast a light healing spell on him- earning a talking-to from Donald about wasting his magic. He would argue back that the matches lasted just long enough for his magic to replenish itself. But really he just wanted to make sure Sora wasn't completely exhausted by the time he fought Cloud. Who apparently was slicing through the competition with ease. Both literally and figuratively. His matches seemed a lot less… populated than Sora's. With only one or two heartless appearings at a time as opposed to the dozens that seemed to be put up against the teen.

It was suspicious, to say the least.

When Cloud and Sora were finally slated to fight, Lea handed Sora a few extra potions just to be safe.

The match began with Sora just barely dodging a blindingly fast dash attack. Cloud didn't give Sora a second to breathe as he launched forward with murderous intent. Phil barely managed to hold Lea back from interrupting the fight. "Whoa whoa whoa, we can't interrupt this match. Relax, it's just a competition."

He grits his teeth and dismissed his keyblade. "Fine."

For a while it seemed Sora would hold his own, he managed to dodge a series of dash attacks easily and stopped to launch a few Fireballs at him. Cloud evaded them by jumping up and bringing his sword down at Sora's head. He missed by mere inches as Sora stumbled back out of range, surprise clear on his face. Sora shook off his shock and rolled out of the way of Cloud's wide slash.

"That's it! You're doing great Sora!" Lea cheered. A wave of Darkness seeped into the corner of his mind, cold and unfamiliar. He looked away from the fight to see a large Shadow approaching. "Phil…"

"Show that wannabe who's boss! You- huh?"

"Is that… normal?"

Phil squinted at the shadow in the distance. "Oh boy."

The ground shook, distracting the rest of the audience from the fight as well. Sora and Cloud seemed unaffected by the newest arrival to the Colosseum, both of them entirely distracted by their fight. Even when the audience ran out screaming at the approaching danger, they refused to acknowledge the distractions.

Sora managed a lucky hit and knocked the other man down. But his victory was short-lived as a massive paw came down and stomped on the already defeated combatant.

"Sora!" Lea raced over to put himself between his charge and the beast. "Get back, this isn't our fight."

On cue, a man who looked like the Hercules he'd seen on everyone's merchandise appeared to hold back the beast. Sora, Donald, and Goofy retreated but Lea stayed, summoning a wall of fire around the creature.

It jumped through the flames towards him, completely unaffected by the heat. Snapping its jaws at him in an attempt to tear him to pieces, Lea responded with a single pillar of flame summoned beneath the creature. It successfully knocked the monster back into the stands but confirmed the creature's resistance to fire. Les scowled at the thought of breaking away from his affinity to fight this thing.

"Hey big guy, make yourself useful and get blondie out of here." His keyblade formed in his hand out of a blaze of fire. The three headed creature kept its attention solely on Lea as it prepared to charge. "What? You want some more?" He jumped back out of range of the monster's claws, charging back in to strike up at its center head.

Fire cloaked his body as he unleashed his full power on the beast. The scent of burning fur filled his nose as he attempted to burn through it's natural resistance through his own power. But the cure spells from before had worn him out and he was quickly losing power. It leeched off him with every strike of his keyblade. It wouldn't be long until he would have to retreat.

"Lea!" One of the beast's heads was knocked away just as it was about to close around him. He hadn't noticed it get so close. But more importantly…

"Sora! What are you doing?"

The teen shifted into his typical battle stance, determined expression on his face. "I'm not letting you fight this alone."

Laughter bubbled up in his chest. The protective flames surrounding him faded away. "If you want to help, toss me an Elixir." Sora tossed him one and he downed it unceremoniously. Strength returned to him in a rush, sore muscles relaxing. "Great. Now, let's show this thing why you don't barge in uninvited."

It roared once more, firing a wave of darkness at the duo. Lea leapt backwards as Sora side rolled away from the pools.

Between the two of them they made short work of the beast. It collapsed, thoroughly defeated. Lea slumped to the ground, exhausted. Sora plopped down next to him, equally drained. "Are you ok?"

"I'll be fine, just give me a minute." Lea closed his eyes. He heard footsteps approaching. Cracking open an eyelid, he saw the silhouette of Hercules illuminated by the sun behind him. "Hmm, on second thought. I wouldn't mind being carried to safety."

"No way, you're way too heavy." Sora giggled.

"Gee thanks."

"Thanks for the assist out there. I wasn't sure if I would be able to fend off Cerberus and rescue the contestants. You need a hand?" Hercules said.

Lea sat up on his own. "Could have used one earlier. Thanks anyway." He stood on shaky feet and smoothed back his hair. "Come on, Sora. we should hit the road."

"Huh? But we didn't find the-"

"Secret to being a true hero, I know." He interrupted, hoping Sora would pick up on his lie. "Bummer, but we can always come back later and try again once this mess is cleared up."

It seemed to work. Sora 'ahhed' and nodded along. "Yeah, I guess so."

Hercules stopped them. "Wait, you guys are world travelers right?"

Lea pinched the bridge of his nose and gave him an exhausted look. "What's the point of a World Order if people keep ignoring it?"

"Ah, sorry." The man rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "It's just, your clothes… I just wanted to ask if you knew anything about some other friends of mine, they were World travelers too and I haven't seen them in a while."

"That's a good thing you know. People like us only visit other worlds when they're in danger." Lea noticed the confusion on Sora's face and stopped to address him. "It's not uncommon to visit other worlds for fun, but that normally requires a bit more stealth than what we're doing."

"I know it's a lot to ask," Hercules started. "But could you atleast keep an eye out for him? His name is Ven-" Lea snapped to attention at the name. "He's got blonde hair, green eyes, he had a weird sword like yours."

"How long ago was he here?" Lea tried not to let his excitement show. This could be a breakthrough.

Hercules winced. "About ten years ago."

The tantalizing clue to the lost wielders whereabouts vanished in a flash. He looked away so the hero wouldn't see the disappointment that filled his expression. "We'll try, No promises though." He stormed off, desperately trying to ignore the gnawing guilt in his chest.


	4. Chapter 4

Lea could feel Sora's gaze on the back of his head as they flew to the next world. He forced himself not to acknowledge it but it was grating.

"So… Who's Ven?" The teen asked, almost innocently. "It kinda sounded like you know him?"

He sighed, knowing that the boy's intentions were in the right place. "I don't, I'm just annoyed our cover was blown. Donald, why didn't you cast a disguise spell?"

Donald squawked in surprised. "Don't you put this on me. You wanted to hurry up and seal the keyhole. I didn't have anytime."

"Hmm.. fair." The piercing stare didn't let up. "Why, do you know anything about Ven?"

"No…" Sora leaned his head against the wall, staring out into the vast space between worlds. "But I have this feeling that maybe I should?" Lea snapped around in his seat, startling both of the king's attendants in the process. Donald yelled at him to focus on flying and he forced his attention back on the controls just in time to avoid an incoming asteroid. "So you do know something!" Sora jumped out of his seat. "Who is he? Does he have a keyblade too? Is he a good guy? A bad guy? How'd you meet him? Is he dangerous? Why do you get all weird when someone brings him up?"

"It's not… Listen." The lights of the ship flickered in response to Lea's distress, this was not the time to think about everything he'd lost.

Goofy came to his rescue. "Lea doesn't like to talk about his life before he came to live in the castle. He probably has his reasons."

Sora paused, considering his words. "Oh… sorry."

The fuel display wavered, Sora's disappointment throwing the ship off again. Lea sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "How about this… Every time you seal a keyhole, I'll answer one big question. You've already sealed one…"

"Who's Ven?"

Lea laughed. That was easy enough. Donald and Goofy seemed equally intrigued by the question. "Ven is… the person who gave me my keyblade. When a Keyblade Master offers their keyblade to someone, if that person is worthy, they will inherit their own keyblade. I didn't know him that well but Keyblade Master's have a sixth sense when it comes to stuff like that."

"Oh," Sora hesitated for a moment, processing everything. "That answers a few questions but now I have a lot more."

"And we have a lot more worlds to visit, so you'll have plenty of chances to ask."

As if on cue, the ship's sensors lit up- alerting them to a new world in range. It was a quiet world, not appearing to be in too much distress. It would be easy enough to ignore. But was odd that it appeared so suddenly.

"Do'ya think King Mickey is down there?"

Doubtful, Lea thought- just as Donald interrupted by insulting the world and trying to take the controls. "Hey!"

"Hold on, what if Riku and Kairi are down there!"

The pair dissolved into an argument over the controls. One that Lea opted not to join. Donald was only fun to argue with when there was nothing to lose. And Lea was rather attached to his hands. It came to a head when Sora decided to just start hitting buttons.

"Wait, don't touch that!" All four of them were launched from the ship, careening off to different parts of the world.

Lea landed with a splash. Warm tropical water filling his nose all at once, skin burning from the sharp impact. He sank for a moment, thoroughly shocked by the experience. It felt like the ocean was trying to drag him in deeper, vibrant ocean life scattering as he passed leaving him alone in the empty sea.

Cold emptiness surrounded him as the hungry darkness attempted to pull his heart from his chest. It numbed his limbs, leaving him paralized. He struggled against its icy grip, reaching out towards the quickly fading light-

He blinked, realizing that he hadn't breathed in a while. He swam upwards toward the sunlight.

He was in control of himself.

There was no darkness to claim him.

Moss covered trees blended together into a natural labrinth. While Tarzan knew exactly what directing to take, Sora found himself lagging behind. The man moved quickly, pausing on occasion to look around as if he sensed danger. It put him on edge to think that the leopard that had attacked him before might be stalking them still. But no attack occurred.

Eventually they reached a camp, where Tarzan led Sora into a tent. There, a woman with long brown hair greeted Tarzan warmly. "Oh? And who's this?"

"Uh, hi there! I'm-"

"Oh!" She interrupted, strangely delighted. "You speak English. So then, obviously you're not related to Tarzan. Are you here to study the Gorillas?"

"Highly Doubtful." A gruff voice claimed before Sora had a chance to respond. They all turned to see a large man carrying a rifle come through the tent opening. Following behind him were two familiar faces.

"Goofy! Donald!" Sora ran up to hug them. His excitement vanished when he recalled his argument with Donald less than an hour beforehand. He shifted his attention to Goofy and pointedly ignored Donald. "Where's Lea?"

"Gawrsh, I thought he'd landed with you. Donald an' I landed together."

The large man huffed. "A circus of clowns, not much use for hunting gorillas."

"Mr. Clayton," The woman, Jane, seemed genuinely angry when she addressed him. "We're here to study them, not hunt them. This is research." Clayton didn't care to listen to her and simply wandered out in the middle of her sentence. She sighed and returned her attention to the trio. "Well, the more the merrier. Do make yourselves at home."

Sora wasn't sure why, but Clayton gave him a bad feeling in his chest. There was something about him that made him feel the urge to summon his keyblade. "Umm… actually, I'm here looking for my friends- Riku and Kairi. And we also got separated from our… Captain."

"Oh my, The jungle is incredibly dangerous. I suppose you'll want to look for them first. Here." She walked over to a crate and pulled out a few potions and handed one to each of them. "Try to return before nightfall. All manner of wild predators are around here and I'd hate to know you're in danger."

"Thank you!"

"Tarzan. Go."

Sora beamed at the strange man and earned a confused attempt in return. Tarzan's 'smile' looked more like a grimace. "Thanks, Tarzan. Tarzan and Sora, friends."

"Friends." Tarzan nodded, content.

Tarzan led them through all sorts of places, sliding on tree branches and swinging across open chasms with vines. The fun of the activity was severely hampered by the thought of his friends in danger. He called out for them from treetops and at the open air of the lagoon. His only response was the sounds of wildlife in the distance. Donald and Goofy lent their voices to the call, equally concerned for Lea.

Eventually they heard it. Faint but distinct. A human voice responding to them. "sora? donald, goofy?"

"LEA!" Sora called back. Tarzan pointed towards the source of the voice the group ran towards it.

"Sora?" Lea's keyblade sliced through the foliage. The man spotted Sora and relaxed. "There you are. I've been looking all over for you." He jogged up to them and grabbed Sora, looking him up and down for any injuries. "You didn't have a rough landing did you? This is why you shouldn't mess around with the controls. You could've gotten hurt."

Sora decided not to mention the leopard that he'd fought off earlier. "I'm fine! There aren't any Heartless around here and most of the animals avoid us."

"Night. Camp." Tarzan announced, interrupting their reunion.

Lea jolted back, eyes widening in surprise. Sora assured him that Tarzan was a friend. "He doesn't really speak 'English' all that well. So he won't tell anyone."

"Ah, I guess it's fine then. We aren't really in disguise anyway." Donald squawked in irritation while Tarzan tilted his head quizzically. "He wouldn't happen to know somewhere we could stay the night would he?"

"Oh yeah! Come on," The group headed back to camp, Lea struggling to keep up over the branches and vines. Once they reached the camp they were greeted by a very relieved Jane and an indifferent Clayton.

Lea stiffened at the sight of Clayton, weary of the rifle that the larger man was polishing. He placed a hand on Sora's shoulder and steered the teen away from him. Sora didn't mind but he felt a bit bad for making the assumption that he was dangerous. If Jane trusted him he couldn't be that bad, right?

"You found your friend. It's a pleasure to meet you, My name is Jane Porter, I'm a researcher studying the colony of gorilla's here on the island. And you are?"

Lea extended his hand. "Lea, Just Lea. Honestly, I'm pretty surprised we found people here at all. We thought this place was deserted."

"We did as well, but well, then we found Tarzan. He was raised by the gorillas here on the island. He's been vital to our research since he understands their language. Communicating still isn't easy, but he's learning very quickly."

Sora thought back to when he landed. "He said my friends were here but he used a word I didn't understand. --."

Jane thought about it. "Hmm, I've never heard him use that before. Why don't you join our lesson today and we'll see if it comes up?"

"Yeah!"

Jane led them to the main tent where she set up an old projector. Tarzan waited patiently near her, obviously very familiar with the process. When the projector flickered to life an image of a beautiful castle surrounded by lush foliage. Tall spires cut through the clouds and even through the monochrome palette of the image, Sora knew that the castle was vibrant and full of light. But a faint sensation of familiarity tugged at the back of his mind.

Before he could voice it, a sharp gasp cut through his thoughts. He turned to see Lea frozen in shock. "Lea?"

"That's- where did you get this?"

Jane flushed at the question. "My father bought these off a traveler, why?"

"That place… doesn't exist anymore." The older man shook his head. "That's my homeland."

"Oh…" Jane quickly changed the slide, "I'm terribly sorry, I had no idea."

"Wait." Lea furiously rubbed away the tears building in the corners of his eyes. "If it's not too much to ask… I don't have much to remember it by-"

Jane smiled softly and held out the slide. He took it carefully, holding it as if it were priceless. Nothing more was said about his reaction, but Sora could see him gently pat the pocket he'd placed it in throughout the rest of the lesson.

Tarzan was unable to explain what the word meant. Defeated, the travelers prepared to sleep. Jane provided them with some sleeping mats and disappeared into her own tent for the night. Sora flopped down on his own sleeping mat with a sigh, staring up at the cloth ceiling. He heard a rustle and saw Lea holding his slide up to the light.

He hesitated for a moment. "Hey Lea, what was your home like?"

It was quiet. "There were good parts and bad parts. It's like anywhere else I guess. I wasn't that much older than you before… I left."

"Do you miss it?"

"I miss… the people. It doesn't matter- it was almost ten years ago. I have a new home now. I just wish I had more to remember it by. If nothing else this is proof that they existed." The slide caught the light and for a moment, a shadow of the image was projected across the tent wall- flickering out of existence as Lea closed his hand around the slide.

Sora thought back to his island. He'd never planned to bring anything to remind him of home on the raft. It hadn't seemed important when he was with Riku and Kairi, but now…

He missed home.


	5. chapter 5

The morning came far too quickly. Sleep only came in fits and bursts, leaving him completely exhausted by the time he heard Lea wake and leave the tent. Thoughts of his island, worries for his friends, doubts, and confusion all plagued his thoughts. It left a lingering weight on his shoulders that wouldn't disappear even when he stretched and rose from his sleeping mat.

Outside he found Goofy and Lea outside having a quiet discussion over a Gummi block.

Lea noticed him first. "Whoa, you look rough. Rough sleep?"

"I'm fine," Sora replied through a yawn.

A look crossed Lea's face but vanished far too quickly for Sora to decipher it. Instead, Lea plastered on a playful grin. "Well, if you're up to it, we'll take a look around for this world's keyhole. We might find some clues about your friends."

His exhaustion cleared at the mention of his friends. "Lets try asking Tarzan again, maybe he can tell us something new?"

Lea sighed. "We could, but he left a while ago. It seemed like he had something important he needed to do." Sora deflated. Another dead end. If Tarzan wasn't around to help, what was left? "We could search where you landed. There might be something that drew your heart to that place. It could have something to do with your friends…"

"Oh yeah! I landed in that treehouse up there!" Sora pointed up at the treeline, just barely getting a glimpse of the abandoned building.

"A treehouse?" Lea muttered.

"Yeah, it's right up this way." Sora raced towards the Lagoon without any further discussion.

He could remember the direction they (Sora mostly) had originally stumbled through to reach the camp. The hippo's barely acknowledged him as he hopped across their backs to the climbable ivy. He paused at the base of the tree and waited for Donald, Goofy, and Lea to catch up. While Donald and Goofy simply swam through the lagoon with little issue, Lea hesitated at the edge of the water. He grimaced and took a running jump onto the first hippo. From there it seemed like he managed to find his confidence, making his way across the lagoon with ease.

While Sora began climbing, he heard a faint crackle of magic. That was his only warning before a blast of heat rocketed past in a blur of red and orange. Donald squawked indignantly. "He'll set the whole jungle on fire like that!"

"Be careful, Lea!" Goofy called after him.

"Show off." Donald muttered.

Whoa. Beneath him he could hear Donald complain that he wasn't moving. Shaking himself from his shook he quickened his pace. He reached the top to find Lea lounging against the tree trunk. "How did you do that!?!"

"Finally, you were taking your time with that. Which way is the treehouse from here?"

"Tell me how you did that first!" With an ability like that he'd win every race. Riku wouldn't even know what hit him!

He crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at him. "You won't be able to do anything like that for a while. You've only just awakened your keyblade- if you tried you'd definitely hurt yourself…"

"Come on! Donald, Goofy, help me out here."

"No way! You'll just leave us in the dust."

"Well, I have to say. I'm a bit curious myself how all this works." Goofy smiled while Donald stared aghast at his reply. As if asking had never occurred to him at all.

Lea reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. "Look, I'd love to give you a lesson but there's a lot you need to learn before you can master flowmotion. Now, can we get back to looking for your friends."

He wasn't happy with that answer but he stopped trying to argue. After hearing about his history the night before it felt cruel to keep prying when he looked so uncomfortable. Sora began leading them up the wide winding branch that led to the treehouse. "Hey Goofy, how comes you and Donald don't have keyblades?"

"Well," He tapped his chin. "We were never be- be quiched one, "bequeathed!" an' I think it takes something real special to be able to use it. Me an' Donald taught Lea how to fight and how to use magic but the king taught him how to really use the keyblade."

"I- can't remember being given a keyblade. By anyone. Is that really important?"

"Well, there's usually a whole ceremony." Lea started. "But I pretty much got mine by accident. Who knows, it could have happened too long ago for you to remember."

They rounded the corner to the Treehouse entrance and froze. Clayton was crouched in the doorway, a sinister grin twisting his features. His rifle was pointed inside at something and gleamed in the sunlight. The memory of Kairi walking around in the Treehouse suddenly surfaced. Even if that hadn't been real, it spurred on a very real and chilling fear.

Before Sora could finish processing what he saw, Donald charged forward, enraged and prepared for battle. The Duck's screams startled Clayton from his hunt, making him fire upwards toward the ceiling. Whatever he had been aiming at scurried off, breaking some things in the process. Sora rushed forward to catch a glimpse of what Clayton had been hunting. A smaller than usual Gorilla vanished through the indoor balcony while a massive silverback glared down at them. It seemed almost human in its reaction, righteous anger pinning them where they stood.

Sora wilted under its gaze, wanting to apologize on Clayton's behalf. But words seemed to fail him. After a few moments of tense silence, the larger Gorilla vanished. Sora turned his attention to Clayton who scrambled to come up with some sort of excuse. They dragged Clayton back to the camp, ignoring his poor excuses along the way.

Jane noticed them as they stumbled through the main tent's entrance. "What happened? We heard a gunshot, are you alright?"

"We're fine. We went to the treehouse to search for clues about Sora's friends but instead we found Clayton 'collecting specimens'." There was an edge to Lea's voice. His hand twitched at his side, sparking with power. "You could have warned us ahead of time. Sora could have gotten hurt."

"Collecting specimens? Why would he be doing that?"

Clayton hurried to defend himself. "Miss Porter, it was simply a misunderstanding."

Sora stomped his feet. "He was trying to hunt the gorillas! Even though you told him not to!"

Jane's expression changed from confusion to anger. "He what? How could you do such a thing?!?"

"Now Miss Porter, I was not aiming at the gorilla-"

"You. Are not to go near the gorillas again." There was venom in her voice, it wasn't a request.

Clayton tried to laugh it off, apparently unable to read the mood. "All because of one mishap? Come, now…" He glanced around, desperately trying to find someone who'd take his side. All he received was stern looks from the camp's residents. He seemed to realize where this situation was heading and decided to concede defeat, retreating from the tent.

Jane turned to Sora. "I'm very sorry about that. We hired him to protect us from wildlife but he's just obsessed with hunting them."

"Obsession like that can lead you down a dark path." Lea crossed his arms and sighed. "It can make you lose sight of what's really important. And forget who you really are."

A shot rang out, startling them from their conversation.

"Again?" Donald cried.

"Something's wrong." Lea said, summoning his keyblade.

Darkness trailed along the edge of his senses. While Clayton's darkness had flared and faded as many emotional beings had, this was the cloying darkness of the heartless. Lea rushed out of the tent. His theory was proven correct as several heartless materialized around a frightened gorilla. Well the quiet was nice while it lasted.

He dashed forward and sliced through the beasts with ease. Wisps of darkness strained against his keyblade, trying to reclaim the freed heart before it disappeared. He raised his keyblade to block one of the enraged monkey heartless. It stumbled back in shock as it collided with the flaming keyblade. Sparks flew as Fira charged up around him, swirling flames consuming the remaining heartless.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy approached. "The heartless? What are they doing here?" Sora's voice rang through the clearing, not betraying even a hint of fear at the situation.

"Something must have drawn them here, they don't usually appear if there aren't a lot of people around." The Gorilla he'd saved took that moment to approach, startling him. It grunted a few times and held out something. Lea took the item, still wary of the creature despite its docility.

He turned the object over in his hands, realizing -with no small amount of surprise- that it was another gummi piece. For a moment he struggled to comprehend how this creature was able to understand the importance of this object. But the heartless had targeted it, maybe the gorilla's in this world were intelligent enough to be considered people? If that was the case, it only made Clayton's actions more vile.

Clayton.

"Did you see where he went? The big guy with the gun?"

The gorilla grunted and pointed towards a nearby clearing. Lea heard Jane gasp behind him, a sound that reminded him that there were still other people nearby despite the emptiness of this world. "Sora, you stay here with Jane in the camp. Donald, Goofy, and I will handle these."

"What about the Gorillas!?!" Jane fretted, more concerned with them than her own safety.

Lea jolted. A bit of guilt wormed its way into his heart. He'd had no reason to assume cruelty on her behalf, she wasn't like Even… or Him. Not possessed by unyielding obsession for knowledge at the cost of her own humanity.

"Hey," Sora started. "I'll go with Tarzan to protect the gorillas while you go after Clayton. I can handle a few heartless."

"If you're sure you can handle it…" Lea hesitated. Sora seemed unfazed, nodding eagerly. He sighed. "Alright. But be careful. I haven't seen these before, you don't know what they're capable of."

"Right!" Sora and Tarzan raced off towards the treehouse.

Lea turned his attention to Jane. "Will you be ok on your own here?"

"Yes, thank you for your concern. But please hurry, Clayton is still out there!"

He didn't bother trying to respond, only offering a quick nod as he rushed off in the direction that the gorilla had pointed him in. The clearing was empty, save for a few more heartless attempting to corner another gorilla. This one, unlike the one before it, wasn't cowering. Instead it beat its fists against the earth and howled its anger at the strange heartless. When one tried to swipe at it, the gorilla swatted it away with the ferocity one would expect from a wild animal.

Lea picked off the heartless farthest from the gorilla, not risking becoming a fatality of its anger. That drew the attention of the other heartless who attempted to swarm him all at once. He snapped his fingers and summoned several pillars of flame that cut through the creatures with ease, Donald and Goofy picking up the stragglers.

Once the last heartless disappeared, the cornered gorilla approached. Donald squawked in surprise, raising his staff defensively. Lea raised a hand to soothe him. "Relax, he's just thanking us for the help."

It held out another gummi piece which Lea accepted. Satisfied by the transaction, the gorilla took his leave. Disappearing into the bamboo stalks without a trace.

"Gawrsh, how'd ya know he wasn't still angry?" Goofy asked.

"Lucky guess." His eyes scanned the clearing. "He went this way, the bamboo has been cut." The group moved quickly along the path. Darkness flicked across his senses like freezing wind, cutting deep into his bones. Even as the humid jungle air clung to his skin, he shuddered at the feeling.

Clayton stood with his rifle at the ready, grinning as the strange heartless crowding and hassling the gorillas into one place. The silverback from before was trying to defend his troop from the creatures. It was only a matter of time before they overwhelmed him, pinning him to the ground for their master. The man leveled his rifle at the silverback's head.

"Hey!" Lea stormed towards the poacher, fire sparking under his heels. Darkness parted where he walked, recoiling from the heat of his anger. "Don't you have any respect for the hunt? It's unsportsmanlike to trap them like this."

Clayton barked out a laugh. "'Unsportsmanlike'? Please. Do you understand the value of these beasts? But of course you wouldn't. You're not from this world."

Lea sighed heavily. "That's starting to get annoying."

"You and your friends fell from the sky, it's hardly a mystery. I'm a well traveled man and that castle isn't on any map I've ever seen. What stake do you hold in this? I'd pay you handsomely to turn a blind eye." Clayton's grip on his rifle was lax, completely at ease with the situation. But the threat was still clear.

Lea summoned his keyblade. "It's always money with you people. Can't you come up with something new?"

The heartless charged, their master hanging back to ready his firearm. Lea sliced through the creatures easily. They were too weak to pose any actual threat to him, but there were still a lot of them. He also didn't want to use his keyblade on Clayton directly. It was too risky with all the darkness polluting this world.

Clayton had no such hesitation. The poacher leveled his shot and fired.

A sharp pain hit his chest, knocking him off balance. For a moment, he worried that the enchantments on his clothes had failed and the bullet had pierced skin. He hissed in pain and cradled the point of impact, his hand coming away bloody. He felt something shift in his chest pocket, a faint clink of glass sounding louder than any gunshot.

The slide...

The enchantments on his clothes didn't protect him from impact. The bullet must have shattered the slide, the pieces of glass cutting into his chest. Lea could only stare at the poacher.

Clayton tsked in disappointment. "I was aiming for your head."

A snarl escaped Lea's throat as he charged at the man, leaving a trail of fire in his wake. The remainder of the fight was almost pathetically short. A single human hunter wasn't any match for the power of an enraged keyblade wielder. Lea gripped the rifle in one hand as he used the other to press his keyblade to Clayton's throat. The poacher seemed eerily relaxed for someone who was about to be beheaded.

"Go on then, do it."

Goofy placed a gloved hand on Lea's arm, steadying his shaking grip. "Don't let him get to you, he's just trying to get under your skin."

"Yeah!" Donald agreed. "He can't do anything without his gun!"

Lea dismissed his keyblade, shifting his grip to the barrel of the rifle. "Good idea, Donald." He raised the firearm over his head and brought it down against the stone cliffside. The grip shattered, bits of the firing mechanism tumbling to the dirt. Clayton's smug grin dissolved at the sight, granting a bit of satisfaction to Lea in exchange. "Should we let the gorillas decide what to do with him?"

"Seems fair to me."

Footsteps sounded on the path, approaching from the direction of the camp. Lea smiled and stepped away from Clayton to greet Sora and Tarzan. As the pair came into view he raised a hand to wave to them. A faint tingling sensation ran up his spine and he paused. The ground shook underfoot and Goofy rushed forward to shield Sora. The cliff behind them erupted, rocks and dust scattering across the clearing.

A massive Heartless flickered into and out of existence, lifting Clayton off the ground and depositing him on its back. It roared in anger, icy air slicing through the jungle heat and knocking him back.

"Lea!" Sora called out. Tarzan didn't hesitate and charged forward to attack the invisible creature. He was swatted out of the air and into the underbrush. That seemed to urge Sora to summon his keyblade.

Lea leaped back to his feet, resummoning Flame Liberator and relishing in its familiar warmth. "This guy just doesn't know when to quit."

Clayton seemed completely detached from the smug poacher he'd just spoken to. His eyes had glazed over, skin pale and starting to grey. Darkness had taken hold of his heart and soon Clayton would no longer exist. The puppet screamed in rage and urged the heartless to attack.

"Sora, stay back." Lea raised a wall of fire in the heartless' path, drawing a pained screech from the creature. "The Darkness is in control of Clayton, he's not the same person he was."

"The darkness?" Sora muttered, seeming to weigh the word in his mouth. As if repeating it would reveal the meaning and depth behind that statement.

"I'll explain later, but right now you need to get back. I don't want you getting caught in the crossfire." He tossed his keyblade up in the air and felt the shift as it transformed into a pair of chakrams. He willed the bladed wheels to encircle him and the invisible heartless, fire erupting in their wake.

The creature recoiled from the heat of the flames, Clayton seeming to come to his senses for a moment. Lea caught the chakrams as they returned to him. The ground beneath his feet began to heat as his natural magic poured into the arena. He glided forward and slashed his right chakram against the creatures hide, his left chakram flying upward to cut into its neck. It seemed like this one was hardier than the others.

"How about we turn up the heat?" He cackled, raising the temperature of the arena and bringing the fire in closer.

The chameleon heartless thrashed and dropped Clayton. Lea took the opportunity to focus his fire on the heartless. It tried to fire a beam of darkness but Lea slid beneath it. He used its disorientation to jump up and hurl his chakrams into its back. It released a final shriek and collapsed, its body melting into darkness.

He released his magic and allowed the area to fade. Exhaustion hit him all at once as his keyblade dissolved into his heart.

Burnt debris crunched as Sora ran up to him. "Lea! Are you ok?"

He huffed and tried to stretch his shoulders, wincing at the twinge. "Might've overdid it. Don't worry, I'll be fine after some rest."

The teen seemed to relax, but still eyed Clayton with barely concealed disdain. "Is he going to be okay too?"

"Probably just heat exhaustion, he'll need some water and shade but he'll live."

Sora regarded the man for a moment before nodding. Whatever he thought of Clayton now didn't overshadow his desire to protect others.

Good, Lea thought. The key chose a good wielder with this one.

Flame Liberator chimed in, pointing him in the direction of the keyhole. Sora jolted in surprise and cupped a hand over his heart. Lea sighed and gave one last stretch. "That's our cue. Let's finish this and get back to the ship. I'm not sure about you, but I do not want to sleep on the ground again tonight.'

Sora cracked a smile, tension easing off his shoulders. It was a welcome sight.


	6. Riku Time

He watched Donald lecture Sora about the controls, happy that they were at least amicable now. Lea wasn't sure how long it would last.

Tentative friendship or not, the peace and quiet was getting to him. He took the opportunity to sneak out of the pilot's cabin to the quarters. He flopped down on the first mattress he found and succumbed to the siren song on sleep.

Lea

His eyes snapped open at the voice. A frequent spectre that lingered far too long in his memory. A twisted mockery of his most cherished memories. He despised it… but still longed to see him.

"Isa…" He couldn't bring himself to tame the broken quiver in his voice. It didn't respond to his name, refusing to look up- its face cloaked in darkness.

"You forgot about me." The spectre spoke in a flat tone. Not accusing, it simply acted like it was stating a fact.

Lea reached up and ran a hand through his hair, looking down at the imitation of his childhood friend. "You know I couldn't do that. I'm just… taking a while to get to you. We'll meet again someday."

The spectre didn't respond. "You left me behind."

Lea flinched at that. The memory of frantically trying to wake a fading Isa only to release him and flee from His rampage alone rose in his mind like a wave threatening to consume him. "I didn't… you…"

It finally rose its head, two deep gashes forming an 'X' across his face. For the first time, it spoke with emotion- blood running down its face and pooling around its eyes. A twisted imitation of tears. "Then why didn't you look for me?"

He took a step back, forgetting that it was just a dream. The figure reached towards him. Darkness rose from the ground- coalescing into a golden eyed figure behind it. It reached towards him, Darkness floating off its form. "You'll travel across worlds for a stranger but you wouldn't even spare me a second thought." Lea fell back, the darkened imitation of Isa looming over him. Eyes the same empty gold as the heartless. "I'm not even a footnote in your story."

Lea jolted out of the nightmare all at once. He whipped his head up and cracked his forehead against the top bunk. "Fuck!" He fell back against the bed, still shaking off the grip of sleep. It had been months since he'd last had a nightmare about Isa. The earlier brush with darkness was affecting him more than he realized.

He rose from the bunk, minding his head this time. Pain twinged in his chest, reminding him of the bullet that had struck him only hours before. He groaned and made his way to the on board bathroom to check. After shedding his shirt and vest, he emptied the broken slide from his pocket. The soft lead bullet tumbled out amongst the shards of glass, flattened from the impact with the clothing's enchantments.

Poking and prodding the bruise brought out a wince as he realized some glass was still embedded in his skin. He grabbed some tweezers from the first aid kit and set to work removing them. Once the wound was clean he pressed on a gauze pad and taped it down.

Green eyes stared into their reflection, analyzing and imagining. Fingers reached up to trace the space beneath his eyes, remembering the feeling of a shaking makeup pencil drawing in magic charms. He remembered playful teasing followed by a shy press of lips to seal in the magic and block the flow of tears. Lea sighed, picking up the pieces of the broken slide and putting them away for now.

He quickly redressed, thinking how Sora had no enchantments on his clothes that could protect him from real weapons like Clayton's gun. They'd need to find someone with that ability before continuing their mission. Maybe Merlin would be available? Sora seemed to have a good grasp on his own fighting style, learning a bit more magic would certainly be a good balance for him.

The ship jolted suddenly, shaking him from his thoughts. Panic took hold as he ran to the pilot's cabin and threw open the door.

"Stop flying directly at asteroids!" Donald shrieked at Sora from his spot at the weapons console.

"There's too many to keep track!" Sora whined back.

Lea chuckled and pushed Sora off of the helm. "Let me take over, you need some rest."

The teen pouted but made room for Lea to take over. Now free from the responsibility of pilot duty, Sora found another seat to rest in. He dozed off almost immediately. Silence filled the cockpit, Lea forced himself to focus on the task at hand.

"Up and at 'em, kid" Sora was jolted awake by a sharp swat on the back of the chair he was resting in. He glanced around frantically and finally met Lea's grinning face. He frowned and stuck his tongue out in response, earning only laughter for his efforts. "Hurry up, you can't sleep in here while the mechanic is working on the ship."

"Huh? Are we back in Traverse Town already?"

"Well yeah, you slept the whole trip."

Sora got up, flinching from the ache in his neck. He followed Lea out of the gummiship and came face to face with a familiar gruff looking man. "Hey! I know you! Cid, right?"

Cid blinks in surprise, glancing between him and Lea. "Don't tell me he's the one you were looking for."

Sora frowned in irritation- what was that supposed to mean?

"Yep," Lea chirped, reaching down to ruffle Sora's hair playfully. "Let me tell you, we really lucked out with him. I barely have to teach him anything- he's a natural!"

Cid gave him a skeptical look, "Uh-huh, sure he is." He leaned in to faux whisper to Sora. "Don't let this one dump all the work on you, he's tougher than he lets on."

Lea sputtered and recoiled in offense. "Hey! I pull my own weight!"

"Doesn't sound like much." Sora bit back a laugh. Cid huffed and reached into his bag. "Before you head off, you're headed to Merlin's right? Mind taking this to him?"

"What do I look like? A delivery boy?"

"No, you always lose 'em -"Do not!"- I was talking to the kid." Cid held out a leatherbound book out to Sora. The cover was blank and it seemed to be missing a few pages. "It was in pretty rough shape when he brought it to me but I did a decent job putting it back together. By the time you're finished with that I'll probably have your ship ready to go."

"Uh, sure."

As he and Lea started to make their way through Traverse Town, Sora took a moment to flip through the book. There were beautifully illustrated pictures of small colorful creatures- the story centering on one yellow bear and his seeming unending quest for honey. A children's bedtime story, simple and sweet.

He smiled and closed the book. He'd outgrown that kind of stuff but it was still comforting. Almost familiar but not.

"That book…" Lea said, peering down at him. "It has a heart."

Sora jolted. "Huh? Books can have hearts?"

Lea shrugged. "Pretty much anything can, as long as it has a strong enough connection to another heart."

He turned Lea's words around in his mind, trying to make sense of the new information. After a moment he gave up, realizing there were a lot of implications to that statement he wasn't ready to think too deeply on. "Wait how do you know it has a heart?"

"I can see it, obviously." He stilled and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "It… was pretty common where I come from to be able to sense hearts. I forget it's not something everyone can do."

"Whaaat? Why didn't you mention it before- that sounds so cool!"

Lea shrugged. "I don't pay much attention to it. Otherwise it gets really annoying in big crowds. Your heart is bright enough- it's like you're carrying a star around with you… and you're just one person."

"Really?" He placed a hand over his heart. "Is that bad?"

He chuckled. "Of course not, well, you might look extra tasty to heartless but it's not gonna hurt you. Besides you have a keyblade- a few extra heartless is nothing." He paused in front of a door emblazoned with a stylized flame. With a snap, a fire sparked up in front of the door and it slid open on its own. "Merlins place is just through here."

They jumped across magical shifting stones towards a derelict cottage. For a moment Sora wondered why there were so many defenses on the way to someone's home. But he supposed if he lived somewhere constantly plagued by heartless, he'd want as much between him and them as possible.

The cottage was empty when they entered, dusty and abandoned… yet familiar.

"There's something about this musty place…" the voice started him from his thoughts. Sora whipped around to see Kairi -right there!- pacing the room and examining the cracked stone walls. "It reminds me of the secret place back home, where we used to scribble on the walls. Remember?"

He could barely contain his excitement, reaching one hand out towards her. "Kairi?"

"Sora?" Lea's voice cut through his trance, the image of Kairi vanishing in the blink of an eye. "You ok there, kid? You looked pretty out of it."

He felt his heart fall in his chest, his hopes dashed in an instant. With the back of his arm he rubbed at his eyes. "I-I'm fine. Just… this place reminds me of something back home."

Lea's concern didn't waver. "Oh, how so?"

Sora hopped up to sit on the dais in the center of the room. He kicked his legs and let himself get lost in the happy memories, a smile wrestling it's way past the disappointment. "Back home there was this cave near the play area where me, Riku, and Kairi would spend hours drawing on the walls. No one else ever went there so it was our secret." He looked up at the warped dome ceiling, remembering when Riku would help him and Kairi climb up the tree roots that lined the walls of the cave to reach the untouched parts of the cave roof. "We always talked about exploring other worlds together- I hope they're ok. I want to tell them about all the places I've seen."

Lea's eyes softened. "We'll find them… one way or another."

There was a shuffling sound near the doorway, an old man in blue robes coming inside. "Well, well, you two arrived sooner than I expected."

"Merlin!" Lea beamed at the older man. "Long time no see!"

"Indeed it has been... and who might you be, young man?" Merlin stroked his beard, it seemed as though he knew the answer to that question already.

"I'm Sora." He jumped down from the dais, pulling the book out. "Cid sent us."

"Yes, yes." Merlin set down his bag. "Just a moment..." The bag snapped open on its own as furniture began to pour out, the air suddenly suddenly feeling electrified as the furniture danced around and positioned themselves. A few books floated up and sorted themselves on the sluggish bookshelf. Sora found himself needing to dodge a few candles as the zipped past to position themselves on a candelabra. Merlin casually sat down on a still moving armchair and was carried over to a small dining table. "There now." He cleared his throat and caught a tea cup. "So Cid asked you to bring me that book. How fortuitous!"

Sora struggled to get his bearings in the newly transformed room. Candles ignited and brightened the room considerably as dust was swept out through a barely covered hole in the wall. In mere seconds it had gone from abandoned cottage to homey cabin. He felt a bit sad that it no longer reminded him of the secret place but that didn't diminish his amazement at the sight.

"Merlin, I don't suppose you know where the three good fairies are? Or Fairy Godmother? Sora can't keep fighting in these clothes." Lea seemed unfazed by the display of magic.

Merlin stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Well, I believe the good fairies have taken refuge with Master Yen Sid in his tower. As for the Fairy Godmother, well, she'll be here shortly. The King told us to expect you. Ah, thank you my boy." He took the book from Sora, tutting over the missing pages.

"Master Yen Sid?" Sora asked.

"He's the king's old teacher. He used to be a Keyblade master himself but he retired." Lea frowned, thinking for a moment. "We don't get along…"

"You should forgive that old man's foolishness… we can be quite stubborn in our old age." Merlin chuckled to himself.

"Huh?" Sora felt left out. Lea seemed irritated but said nothing.

He never had a chance to ask more about that as in that moment of silence, a brilliant light announced the arrival of the fairy godmother Lea and Merlin had spoken about.

"It seems I arrived a bit late, Hello there dear." She cooed over Sora and plucked at his clothes. "I suppose you'll be needing some enchantments on your clothes?"

"Umm, I guess so."

"I'm afraid my magic can only do so much, but I should be able to add some decent protection spells to this. It won't affect the appearance at all or enhance any natural abilities."

"Whatever you can manage will be a great help." Lea finally spoke up.

"Well alright, now what was that spell… oh yes! Bippity boppity boo!" She tapped her wand against Sora's forehead and a cascade of sparkles washed over him and knitted themselves into his clothes. He didn't feel any difference but some part of him knew that he would be much safer now.

After that Lea encouraged Sora to do some magic training with Merlin. The 'training' was mostly blowing up furniture with the few spells he'd learned so far. Sora wasn't sure how long he spent against the endless army of armchairs and wardrobes but after a while Lea stopped his conversation with Merlin to ask Sora if he wanted to head back to the ship to rest up.

"Cid should be just about done. There are a few things I need to discuss with Merlin that might take a while."

So Sora began to walk back on his own. He didn't make it far and was cornered by heartless. He summoned his keyblade and prepared for battle… only for them to be cut down by someone else.

"There you are, what's going on?" A familiar voice chimed, deceptively casual.

Sora's heart soared. "Riku!" He reached out and grabbed the older boy's face, pulling out his cheeks and pinching him.

"Hey, cut it out!" Riku complained and pulled Sora's hands away from his face. Despite his tone, he seemed just as happy to see him as Sora was.

"I'm not dreaming this time, right?"

Riku laughed, running a hand through his hair. "I hope not. It took forever to find you."

"Riku…" Sora stopped, glancing around. "Wait a second, where's Kairi?"

Riku's good mood seemed to stall. "Isn't she with you?" Silence. "Well, don't worry. I'm sure she made it off the island too. We're finally free. Hey she might even be looking for us now. We'll all be together again soon." A heartless rose from the ground behind him. "Don't worry, just leave everything to me-"

"Look out!" Sora dove around Riku, slicing through the heartless as it tried to pounce on its unsuspecting victim. As the shadow evaporated and a pink heart was released, he shot Riku a smug grin. "Leave everything to who?"

"Sora, what did you-?"

"I've been looking for you, and I've had some help. A keyblade master found me and he's teaching me all sorts of stuff! Apparently he's looking for this king so we're traveling to different worlds together. I'm sure he'll let you come with us."

"Really, a keyblade master?" Riku murmured. "So this is called a keyblade?"

Sora felt his hand clench around nothing. In Riku's hands was the keyblade. He hadn't even noticed him swipe or from him. "Hey! Give it back!" Sora tried to grab back the keyblade and wound up tripping over his own feet. Riku ignored him and examined the weapon.

There was an odd look in his eye, something Sora had never seen before. Something he couldn't quite place but decided he never wanted to see again.

"Catch." Riku tossed the keyblade back carelessly.

He caught the weapon- feeling a slight tug on his heart was that disappointment?- and dismissed it.

"So, you're coming with right? We've got this awesome rocket- wait till you see it! It's made of these special blocks right- Donald explained them but he doesn't make much sense- and it can travel between worlds!"

The look vanished and Riku's familiar grin returned. "Oh. Is it better than the raft?"

"Way better." Sora grabbed Riku's hand and started to pull him along. "Come on!"

"H-Hey! Slow down..."


End file.
